Felt great to be back in the studio prepping for a full day of throwing. It seems like it’s been far too long… but you know how tough it is sometimes to get started up again in the New Year?! Especially when the studio is clean and there are no projects drying under plastic that need my attention. But after today there will be…

Spent some time in the studio tonight still cleaning, organizing and wedging up a bunch of reclaim clay. Gotta love FREE clay! Close to seventy pounds of it.

And while I was there cleaning, I also found my three DVD’s from NETFLIX. Yep, I’m still going old-school with actual DVD’s. Long story… but our studios have somewhat unreliable Wi-Fi, so I stick with DVD’s. Anyways… I’ve been looking EVERYWHERE for these DVD’s. You know how you put things in “that special place” when you’re cleaning to make sure you don’t lose them, and then months later you can’t remember where you put them?! Well, I apparently put them in “that place” back in October!!! And haven’t been able to find them… until tonight!!! Sheesh!!!

What better way to end out the year than with some studio cleaning, de-decorating
and turning out one last batch of reclaim clay?! Here’s to “free” clay in the New Year!!!

So it’s been exactly two weeks since I became an IRONMAN.
Things have gotten back to normal… less training, more pottery…
but I still can’t bring myself to cutting off my official IRONMAN wristband!!!

Looks like something special in the works?! This is the kind of “magic” that happens when artist friends get together and collaborate. Come to ART IN THE GARDEN this weekend to see the final results. Amy Taylor is amazing!!! And let me just add two more enticing tidbits… “Limited Edition” and even better… “interchangeable.”

So we started with some textured clay “cabachons” or disc inserts.

Then Amy made some great metal “cases” to hold the discs. Practically everything Amy makes has a hinge on it somewhere, so it was no surprise that these do too!!!

A little cleaning up… and then polishing…

Insert the ceramic disk… and voila’… PERFECTION!!!
She’s amazing… and this one may just have to be mibe?!

And again… interchangeable ceramic disks in the hinged sterling case…
but VERY Limited Quantities this weekend only at ART IN THE GARDEN!!!

Collaboration fun coming soon… see what happens when my textured ceramic discs are shared with metalsmith Amy Taylor and a “challenge” to make something cool out of them. The “Big Reveal” will be this weekend at ART IN THE GARDEN. September 10th & 11th at 1205 Hutchings Avenue, Glenview, Illinois 60025. Stop by early for these “limited edition” collaboration pieces!!!

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After a few days of drying on a large plaster bat, my reclaimed porcelain slurry has set-up enough to start wedging. After a bit of manual labor, I now have a few more bags of porcelain. A few more bags of potential.

My reclaim bucket was full of slaked down porcelain scraps. Pulverized porcelain scraps soaked in water, and then evaporated until it was gooey, but not puddley. So I thought today would be a good day to glop it all out onto a large plaster bat to get it to start setting up. After a few days of drying, I will be able to start wedging. You gotta love free clay!!! Especially when it’s porcelain… Thanks again Emily!

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Another fun day at Summer Camp… luckily they remembered what I taught them yesterday, and today they made a LOT of pots!!! Tomorrow is detailing, decorating, handles, trimming and finishing this batch of stoneware pots. Thursday we switch to terra cotta and Friday we glaze everything!!!

It’s another week of Summer Camp!!! This week I’m teaching Wheelthrowing again….
and the mud-covered shenanigans have started already!!!